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t.g.i.mixtape: volume 35

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2009 |

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Happy Friday my fellow music lovers! Another week has gone by, which means that another mixtape is here for your listening pleasure. This week, on the 35th volume in our T.G.I.Mixtape series we have some brand new songs by some of our favourite bands along with some great tracks by some promising up-and-commers. So sit back, relax and have a nice tall glass of horchata while you let these tunes take you into the weekend. -Greg Lozoff

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scroll through this player to listen to all tracks on the mixtape

1. Vampire Weekend - "Horchata"Vampire Weekend are back! A few days ago the afro-poppin' New Yorkers released the first single from their upcoming album, Contra. The song is called "Horchata", which is apparently some sort of Mexican beverage, and begins, "In December drinking horchata I'd look psychotic in a balaclava". Well it's good to see that they're still writing witty lyrics to go along with their songs. And this one is as good as it gets.

2. Karen O and the Kids - "All Is Love"We are only two weeks away from the highly anticipated release of the new Spike Jonze adaptation of everyone's favorite children's book Where The Wild Things Are. But if you were wondering what the soundtrack would be like wonder no more because it is already in stores and it is great. The whole thing was written by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's along with some very special friends. Here is the magical first single from the album called "All Is Love".

3. Ssion - "Clown"Ssion kind of sounds kind of like a cross between Prince and CSS. Although lead singer Cody Critcheloe isn't nearly as high pitched as Prince can be at times he may be just as charismatic. And their beats could hang with CCS' any day of the week. Their latest album is called Fool's Gold and along with the many great hooks on the album there are some moments that may gross you out (i.e. "Street Jizz"). But in the end, the whole thing turns out to be a lot of fun, regardless of the talk of bodily fluids.

4. Muse - "Uprising"https://www.myspace.com/muse has been quietly solidifying their position as one of the biggest bands in the world. They have been a regular festival headliner for some time now and their fan-base has grown exponentially in the past few years. It must have something to do with the fact that they put out some really epic sounding albums. Anyways here's a brand new song called "Uprising" from Muse's latest masterpiece, The Resistance.

5. The Subjects - "Winter Vacation"When we saw The Subjects' Myspace description of "Like Nickleback but less ballsy" we were a little bit worried but it didn't take longer than a few seconds into the single from their latest New Soft Shoe EP to realize that they have as much in common with Nickleback as Vampire Weekend have in common with 50 Cent. This song is poppy, blissful, and just seems to just grow on you with repeated listens.

6. Fool's Gold - "Surprise Hotel"Fool's Gold are a band from Los Angeles, California who play afro-pop with Hebrew vocals. While that sounds a little odd, somehow it all seems to go so well together. The band is formed around the two primary members, Luke Top and Lewis Pesacov who you may know from his other band, Foreign Born. On their debut self-titled album, they demonstrate how deeply they have been influenced by all different kinds of music from around the world, leaving us with a collection of songs that would go perfect with a nice cold beverage and a sandy beach.

7. Wax Tailor - "Say Yes"We don't usually show too much love to the hip hop world on our weekly mixtapes, but that was before we were made aware of French producer Wax Tailor. He puts sort of a different spin on conventional hip hop to make it something that is really nice and interesting to listen to. Here is the first single from his latest album, In The Mood For Life, in stores now.

8. Hey Ocean! - "A Song About California"Here's an peppy little pop song by Vancouver, Canada's Hey Ocean!, a three-piece comprised of David Beckingham, Dave Vertesi and the talented and adorable Ashleigh Ball. The band has just released a new album called It's Easier To be Someone Else, which is a collection of infectious pop songs just like this one. The band has a short North American tour coming up so be sure to check these guys out in a city near you.

9. Meaghan Smith - "Heartbroken"Here is another cutesy pop song by another Canadian singer/songwriter by the name of Meaghan Smith. This London, Ontario native grew up completely surrounded by music and from a young age she was enthralled with the music of the 20s, 30s and 40s. So it's no surprise that we find many of these influences on her stunning new album, The Cricket's Orchestra. "Heartbroken" is the perfect example of how Smith brings us back to a time when music wasn't taken as seriously and was more about sounding pleasant and making you want to boogie.

10. Wisdom Tooth - "Rodeo"To finish off this week's mixtape we have a song by another Meagan. Wisdom Tooth is essentially the musical project of Meagan Day in which she uses very minimal instrumentation to create simple yet catchy campfire jams. On "Rodeo" Day uses nothing more than a ukulele and tambourine to accompany her adorable lyrics. And what a perfect way to take us out. Until next week!